Love Song, 2023

Born in Tel Aviv in 1951, educated at the Jerusalem Academy of Art and later at the Architectural Association in London, Ron Arad co-founded with Caroline Thorman the design and production studio One Off in 1981 and later, in 1989, Ron Arad Associates architecture and design practice. In 2008 Ron Arad Architects was established alongside Ron Arad Associates.

From 1994 to 1999 he established the Ron Arad Studio, design and production unit in Como, Italy.

Ron Arad was awarded the Royal Designer for Industry (RDI) in recognition of his ‘sustained excellence in aesthetic and efficient design for industry’ in 2002, and was awarded the London Dsign Medal in 2011.

He was professor of Design at the Hochschule in Vienna from 1994 to 1997, and later Professor of Design Products at the Royal College of Art in London up until 2009, when he was made Professor Emeritus. In 2013 he was elected as a Royal Academician by the Royal Academy of Art in London.

Ron Arad’s constant experimentation with the possibilities of materials such as steel, aluminium or polyamide and his radical re-conception of the form and structure of furniture has put him at the forefront of contemporary design.
Selected Shows
2010
Ron Arad: ʻRestlessʼ, Barbican Art Gallery, London, 18February – 16 May

2009
Ron Arad: ʻNo Disciplineʼ, Museum of Modern Art, New York, 2 August – 19 October

2008
ʻRon Arad: No Disciplineʼ Pompidou Centre, Paris, 20 November – 16 March 09

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Exhibitions
2023
Ron Arad, Dubito Ergo Cogito, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, April-May 2023

2022
Overdose, Design Museum, Holon, April-August 2022

2021
Black box, Design Museum, Holon, February-Jun 2021

2021
Ron Arad: Strings, love songs, and a red car, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, April-Jun 2021

2018
Ron Arad: ‘All and Nothing’ Over, Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, March – April 2018

2018
Ron Arad: ‘Flat Mates’ Over the Influence, Hng Kong, 12th January to 28th February 2018

2017/18
Ron Arad: ‘Beautiful, Useful, Love’ Grob Gallery, Geneva, 3rd November 2017 to 26th January 2018

2016/17
Ron Arad: ‘One Man Show’ Gary Tatintsian Gallery, Moscow, 18th November 2016 to 1st February 2017

2016
Ron Arad: ‘Summer Exhibition’ Ben Brown Fine Arts, London, 22 June to 15 September

2016
Ron Arad: ‘Ron Arad Rocks!, Louisa Guinness Gallery, London, 26 February to 8 April

2015
Ron Arad: ‘in Reverse’ Paul Kasmin Gallery, New York, 12 February to 14 March

2014
Paris Motor Show October 201

2014
Ron Arad: ‘Last Train’ Ron Arad Studio, London 27 June – 2 July

2013/14
Ron Arad: ‘in Reverse’ Pinacoteca, Turin, 20 December 2013 to 30 March 2014

2013
Ron Arad: Ivorypress, Madrid 5 September – 9 November

2013
Ron Arad: ‘in Reverse’ Design Museum, Holon, Israel 19 June – 19 October

2013
Ron Arad: ‘Last Train’, Palazzo Cavalli Franchetti, Venice 1 June – 24 November

2012
Ron Arad:720°, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem 15 August – 5 September

2011
Ron Arad: ʻCurtain Callʼ, Roundhouse, London, 9 – 29 August

2009
Ron Arad: Ben Brown Fine Arts, Hong Kong, 26 November 2009 – 29 January 2010

ʻRon Arad: New Workʼ, Timothy Taylor Gallery, London, 8 April – 9 May

Ron Arad Gallery Mourmans, Maastricht, March

ʻRon Aradʼ Gana Art Gallery, Seoul, Korea, 27 March – 20 April

2007
ʻRestlessʼ, Friedman Benda Gallery, New York, September

ʻBodyguardsʼ, Metropol, Milan April

ʻThe Dogs Barkedʼ de Pury & Luxembourg, Zurich November 2006- February 2007

2006
ʻThere is no solution because there is no problemʼ 508 West 26 Street, New York 14-30 September (with Barry Friedman Gallery)

ʻBlo-Gloʼ, Dolce & Gabbana, Metropol, Milan April

ʻBlo-Jobsʼ, Gallery Mourmans, Lanaken, Belgium (March)

2005
ʻPaved with Good Intentionsʼ, a new installation by Ron Arad, Miami Basel (1 Dec – 10 Dec)

ʻDesins by Ron Aradʼ, Indianapolis Museum of Contemporary Art (11 Nov 2005 – 7 Jan

ʻRon Arad: A Retrospective Exhibitionʼ, Barry Friedman Ltd, New-York (5 May – 24 June)

ʻRon Arad: New Works & Installationʼ, featuring Mike Figgisʼ film for the exhibition

ʻIn Spaceʼ, Phillips, de Pury & Co., Chelsea, New-York

2004
ʻRon Arad Fatto In Italiaʼ as part of the Venice Biennale 9. International Exhibition of Architecture, ʻMetamorphʼ

Vincenza ʻLo-rez-dolores-tabula-rasaʼ, Galeria Marconi, Milan

2003
ʻRon Arad in der Galerie Stefan Vodgtʼ, Galerie der Moderne, Munich

ʻRon Arad Studio Works: 1981-2003ʼ, Louisa Guinness allery, London

ʻVon Mensch zu Menschʼ, Sparda Bank, Münster

ʻRon Aradʼ, Galeria Marconi, Milan

ʻPermetreʼs la Llibertatʼ, Centre dʼArt Santa Monica, Barcelona

2002
ʻTwo Floorsʼ, Galeria Marconi, Milan

2001
ʻDelight in Dedarkʼ, Galeria Marconi, Milan

2000
ʻNot Made By Hand Not Made in Chinaʼ, Galeria Marconi, Milan

ʻBefore and After Nowʼ, Victoria and Albert Museum, London

1998
R.T.W. Gallery of Modern Art, Glasgow

1997
Ron Arad new acquisitions, Montreal Museum of Decorative Arts

Ron Arad at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia

Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer, Spazio Krizia, Milan

1996
Glasgow Festival f Architecture & Design

Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer, Spazio Krizia, Milan

1995
Ron Arad – Gazi, Athens

The work of Ron Arad, Museum of Applied Arts, Helsinki

Ron Arad and Ingo Maurer, Triennale, Milan

ʻSticks and Stonesʼ, Vitra Design Museum, Touring Exhibition 1990-1995

1994
ʻLʼEsprit du Nomadeʼ, Cartier Fondation, Paris

1993
ʻBreeding in Captivityʼ Edward Totah Gallery

ʻDesign in the 20th Centuryʼ, Grand Palais, Paris

ʻOne Off and Short Runsʼ, Centre for Contemporary Arts, (Warsaw, Krakow, Prague)

1991
ʻA Break with Traditionʼ, Rohska Museum, Gothenburg, Sweden

1990
Ron Arad Recent Works, Tel Aviv Musem of Art

1987
ʻNouvelles Tendencesʼ, Centre Georges Pompidou

ʻDocumenta 8ʼ, Kassel

1986
ʻIntellectual Interiorsʼ, Seibo, Tokyo with P. Starck, R. Kawakubo, S. Kuramata

Awards
2016
Compasso d’Oro

2014
Pillar of the Roundhouse, London

2011
London Design Medal

2010
Honorary Doctorate at Tel Aviv University

2006
The Jerusalem Prize for Arts and Letters, awarded by Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Israel

2005
FX magazine Designer of the Year Award

2004
Architektur & Wohnen Designer of the Year Award

Finalist for the 2002 World Technology Award for Design

2002
Royal Designer for Industry

2001
Oribe Art& Design Award, Gifu, Japan

2001
Gio Ponti International Design Award, Denver

2001
Barcelona Primavera International Award for Design

2001
Co-winner of Perrier Jouët Selfridges Design Prize, London

1999
Design Plus Award, Frankfurt/Main; Internationaler Designpreis Baden-Württemberg, Design Center Stuttgart

1994
Designer of the Year, Salon du Meuble, Paris

Work in Public Collections
Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Montreal
Musée des Beaux Arts, Montreal
Vitra Design Museum, Weil am Rhein
Musée National d’Art Moderne/Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
Fond National d’Art Contemporain, Paris
Musée des Arts Décoratifs Paris
Centre National d’Art Plastique, Paris
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Museum of Modern Art, New York
Museum of Fine Arts, Boston
Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Victoria and Albert Museum, London
Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester
Design Museum, London
Stedelijk Museum of Modern Art, Amsterdam
Rohsska Design Museum, Gothenburg
Powerhouse, Sydney
Design Museum, Osaka
Design Museum, Nürnberg
Neue Pinakothek der Moderne, Munich
Landesmuseum Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart
Selected Publications
Ron Arad: In Reverse, published by Pinacoteca Giovanni e Marella Agnelli, Turin 2013
Ron Arad: Last Train, published by Steinmetz 2013
Ron Arad: No Discipline published by MoMA NY 2009
Ron Arad: No Discipline, published by Editions du Centre Pompidou, Paris 2008
Ron Arad Architecture published by Enrico Navarra, France 2008
Ron Arad: Paved With Good Intentions published by Friedman Benda and The Gallery Mourmans, 2007
Ron Arad published by Barry Friedman Ltd, 2005
Ron Arad talks to Matthew Collings, Phaidon Press, 2004
Ron Arad by Deyan Sudjic, graphics Angus Hyland, Pentagram, Laurence King Publishers, 1999
Ron Arad by Raymond Guidot, Olivier Boissiere, Dis Voir, 1998
Design Classics Bookworm by Volker Albus, publisher Form Verlag,1997
Ron Arad Associates: One Off Three by Artemis Architectural Publications, 1993

Introductions by Ettore Sottsass, Cedric Price